Introduction
While the name and a minute number of parts remain the same, the 2009 Honda Pilot is a new vehicle. Every piece of sheetmetal and glass, every mechanical component, and every feature has been gone through yielding a just slightly larger Pilot that put all the space to use inside. And unlike many similar designs it didn’t gain too many pounds.
An eight-passenger Pilot can handle four adults and four kids easily, or four infant seats if you have the earplugs. It has useful cargo space beyond the third-row seats so you needn’t fold one to fit a cooler or week’s worth of groceries. And with six cupholders in the second row alone, eight door cargo pockets and the ability to carry a 4×8-foot sheet of building material flat inside, finding a place for everything isn’t an issue.
Apart from perhaps flexibility and fuel economy for like vehicles the Pilot doesn’t strike one as superior in any given aspect, but rather feels like a well balanced vehicle that maintains average or better performance in any number of areas; the utility moniker is apropos. Good carrying space, road manners, and comfort are now wrapped up in a much better looking box.
Lineup
The Honda Pilot comes in four variants with few options. Each model is offered with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive (4WD). All mechanical and safety components and systems are identical across the range. Navigation only comes on top-line models, and the rear-seat DVD entertainment system is available only on the top two trims.
The LX comes with cloth upholstery, front and rear climate control, steel wheels, five-speed automatic, Hill Start Assist, flip-up hatch glass, intermittent rear wipe/wash, power windows/locks/mirrors, tow hitch, tinted rear windows, automatic headlamps, cruise control, center console, visor extensions and illuminated mirrors, tilt/telescoping steering column, four front seatback pockets, six reading lights, reconfigurable cargo area, 60/40 split-folding second and third row seats, trip computer, seven-speaker system with 6CD changer and MP3 jack. There are no options on the LX.
The EX upgrades with three-zone climate control, alloy wheels, security system, heated body-color mirrors, roof rails, fog lights, chrome exhaust tips, HomeLink, conversation mirror, eight-way power driver seat, XM radio, and exterior temperature indicator. No options.
Walkaround
Honda says the Pilot’s styling was inspired by an “ultra-rugged laptop computer,” and while the new Pilot is certainly more rugged looking than its predecessor, it’s also much cleaner with fewer indentations and carving in the body panels, more integrated lines, and a boxier shape that serves usefulness as well as it caters to image. Surfaces that aren’t sloped inward at the roof pay dividends in head space and big-box cargo loading, and the three inches of extra length have gone between the axles and into the cabin.
With substantial chrome trim and “eyebrows” in the headlight housings, fog lights much higher in the bumper, and a hatch that tapers more to the sides than forward at the top, the new Pilot looks much wider than the extra inch it is. Viewed from dead astern the Pilot appears as bulky as the full-size SUV Nissan Armada and Toyota Sequoia, though it weighs substantially less than any full-size four-wheel drive like those.
Interior
Regardless of trim level, the Honda Pilot interior appears well though-out and assembled, with functional touches at every turn and a luxury factor that increases alongside price. In simple terms the base LX will do everything a Touring will do except reposition your seat and mirrors or open and close the power tailgate.
The cloth upholstery on LX and EX is comfortable in temperature extremes and a subdued design with just enough pattern to hide stains that become part and parcel of any eight-seat vehicle. One may desire more features from higher-priced models yet the basics are all here, including power windows and locks and air conditioning for front and rear. Just like the priciest Pilot, door armrests have soft cushioned elbow pads and there’s no cheap feel in frequently felt surfaces. All trims offer four interior colors dependent on paint hue. Premium models are upgraded with nicely textured leather, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift lever, and more upscale door panel trim.
The front seats deliver good support for long-term comfort and bolsters on the seatbacks provide lateral support without imposing thigh cushions you’d have to climb over for every entry or exit. The power driver’s seat on the EX adjusts in one more plane than the LX and is easier underway for minor improvements in finding the ideal position and height, yet we had no fatigue or wish for more after hours in an LX.
Driving Impressions
On the road, the Honda Pilot feels balanced, with sufficient power and brakes, decent ride quality and handling, and on 4WD models the ability to leave the pavement or tackle pre-plowed snow. Most owners won’t go as far as a Pilot will go, but the rugged looks match vehicles that will go farther on a bad trail, so “off-road” travel is best kept to scenic byways and mountain motorways.
The 3.5-liter V6 takes on a characteristic Honda growl when you push it and you’ll need to be towing or accelerating uphill on an on-ramp to require such grunt. For the most part the engine is in the background, never silenced, never rough and never annoying. It now uses Honda’s Variable Cylinder Management to switch off two or three of its six cylinders to save fuel; the ECO light on the dash shows when you are getting best economy and does not necessarily mean it is running as a three- or four-cylinder engine. Like the all-wheel drive system, the VCM is transparent to the driver and requires no action on his or her part, and apart from some front tire spin under heavy acceleration from rest the front-drive model drives just like the all-wheel drive.
Among the host of three-row crossovers in the 3.5-liter to 3.8-liter V6 class, there isn’t a wide range between the slowest and fastest and the Honda feels right in the middle. Where the others may enjoy a slight advantage is with six speeds in the transmission, and/or the ability to address each of them separately or in a “sport” mode for quicker response. The Pilot shifter offers an OD Off switch which locks out the top two gears, so if you want fourth to control speed on long hill descents or winding roads you’re out of luck. Toyota’s Highlander and Mazda’s CX-9 come to mind as better in these respects, and to a lesser extent, GM’s Acadia/Enclave/Outlook/Traverse family.
Since the Pilot is among the lightest of the eight-seat crossovers the suspension can be tuned for ride comfort without requiring undue stiffness for control. It swallows up most road surfaces with aplomb and never bottomed out on dirt road whoop-de-doos when driven sensibly but briskly. No single noise source stands out and normal conversations are quite possible at highway speeds. The Michelin tires on the premium model may last longer or prove better in severe snow but you’d need instruments far more sophisticated than your behind to show any other advantage. The stability assist is one of the lesser intrusive such algorithms and if it comes into play you probably won’t notice as you’ll be busy wondering how you got into a bad situation.
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